Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-12-25
CHINA.
Work of the Episcopal
Mission at Shanghai.
NO RAILROAD LIKELY.
An Interesting Interview with
DR.. e. M. Griffith of st.
Luke's Hospital.

Among the recent Distinguish d
arrivals here is DR.. Edgar NJ. Griffith
Of st. Luke's Hospital, Shanghai,
China. Yesterday afternoon q repre-
sentative of the HERALD called upon
the doctor at the NadeSu, and asked
him various questions relative to
China, to which he answered SUBJ
stantially as follows:
China compares very unfavorablY
with the United States both in climate
If Los Angeles is sample--and in
morals, customs, etc. There is u diff
ference though between the northern
and the southern Chinese, and l
nave seen MANY OF the higher classes
who were far above any Of the Chi
nose you have here. 1ls class
these higher Chinese and officials are
very much to be respected in
some things, hut, taken rs a
race, they have no progress
sive ideas, such as the Americans
or Europeans. They are very
superstitious and the Mission work
with which have been connected is
carried on with some difficulty on
this account. The American people
however have no idea OF the amount
of good these missions, oure i'll par
ticular, have accomplished. The
number of converts has of late years
been very large and at the present
time l do not think that there is any
danger from violence at the hands OF
the Chinese. La large cities this is
the case, but in some OF the interior
towns where Foreigners are seldom
seen, it is still unsafe for Foreigners to
travel unprotected. ] have expcr-
fenced some violence myself at the
hands Of the lower Chinese in the
interior, but / was particularly
fortunate on account Of my profession.
I had OIL one occasion given chloro-
form to a Chinese woman on whom l
performed an operation and had after,
wards brought her out from under it's
influence. The Chinese who wit.
messed her sink to sleep
under the effects Of the
drug. endure the pain without
a culver, and recover i'll total isno.
rance OF what had been done, could
not understand it, and gave me the
name of 1.-THE nan who kills and
brings to life." Thereafter was safe
at their hands ii it was known that !
was "the man who kills and brings to
lfe." This is only an instance OF
their superstition, and we found it
hard to break through this and teach
them the principles Of our religion,
and il was only by constant work and
kindly treatment that we were able to
do so.
THE MISSION NoBK.
The principal work at the Mission is
conducted by means OF schools and
other institutions Of like character.
The boys school at the present time
contains sixty boys and forty girls,
and in this school bothEnglish and Chi
nese are thoroughly taught. The stu
dent who here completes his course is
fit to enter any position in life, and can
either become 8 teacher or a preacher.
He can teach either English or Chi
nese, SO thorough is the course. In
connection with this school an o.
phanage is being built. At the pres
ens time there are twenty-four girl
babies in the orpllanage, and these |
are infants which the Mission has |
saved from being murdered. The
Chinaman has no desire Tor a great
number of girls in the family, and
those which are not wanted are killed.
The Mission has saved twcnty-four
recently, and when the orphanage is
completed it will soon be filed.
Then there is st. Luke's Hospital,
where / was located. This hospita!
contains 100 beds, where all sorts OF
patients are welcome, although the
largest number Of them are filled
with surgical cases. Connected with |
hospital is an outside clinic, where |
have received and treated, free of
charge, from 80 to 800 patients daily.
There is also medical class OF which
have. had charge, the object being
to give them physicians OF their own
kind.
The church at the mission is in
charge of the Right Rev. w. }. Boone,
ID. d., man who is loved and re-
spected 10y all who know him. He
has the interest OF the work among
the Chinese at heart and has insti-
tuted theological college where q
number Of students are Instructed.
The Mission is situated about five
miles away from Shanghai, and all OF
the people connected with the work Of
the church reside there, free from
nolestation OF any sort.
There are, however, about 5000
Americans and Europeans residing in
Shanghai proper; that is, they reside
in what is known as the English con-
cession. There are three concessions,
the English, American and French,
Int most OF the foreigners reside III
the English, on what is known us the
Bubbling road.
RAILROADS. IN CHINA.
h my opinion, despite all the talk in
the newspapers, it will be long time
before there will be any railroads in
China, for several reasons, the p,rin-
ciple one being the superstition OF the
people. China is one vast grave yard:
On every side there are to be found
the mounds Of those who have died.
The Chinese will not allow these
mounds to be disturbed under any
circumstances. Their superstition
forbids the removal OF body or the
interference with the grave OF any
person once buried with the proper
ceremonies. Twice year they visit
the graves OF their ancestors; in the
spring with offerings of the first fruits
OF the season and in the fall they re-